Leading figure in Pakistan cricket fixing scandal dies

Former international opener Salim Pervez, a key figure in a Pakistan match-fixing inquiry, died after suffering fatal injuries in a road accident, family and friends said yesterday.

“Pervez was riding a motorcycle when he was hit by a bigger vehicle on Sunday, and could not recover from fatal injuries and died early Wednesday,” a friend of Pervez said.

Pervez, 65, told a match-fixing inquiry conducted by judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum in the late 1990s that he acted as a middleman between some Pakistani players and bookies.

CONFESSED

Qayyum said Pervez confessed to handing Salim Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed US$100,000 to throw a final in Sharjah.

The inquiry was initiated by Pakistan in 1998 after Australian players Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Malik offered them a bribe to underperform on their team’s tour to Pakistan in 1995.

The Qayyum inquiry banned Malik and Ata-ur Rehman for life in 2000, and fined Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul Haq, Saeed Anwar — all leading stars at the time — and one other player.

A dashing opener in domestic matches, Pervez played a single one-day international, against the West Indies at Karachi in 1980, before his career derailed over allegations of murder. The allegations were never proven.

BANS

International cricket was further rocked by life bans on South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and India’s Mohammad Azharuddin for match-fixing in 2000.

A year later the International Cricket Council was forced to form an anti-corruption and safety unit to combat the menace.

Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were banned for a minimum of five years for spot-fixing in 2011.

This was followed by a life ban for Pakistan’s Danish Kaneria in England last year after he was found guilty of corruption in a spot-fixing case.